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If Ignorance of the Law is No Excuse, Why Does the State Charge For It?

September 3rd, 2008 by Josh King, VP of Business Development and General Counsel

Carl Malamud is thumbing his nose at California’s claim that its laws are copyright-protected (hat tip to Citizen Media Law Project). Armed with a scanner and big pile of paper, Malamud is bringing all 38 volumes of the California Revised Code online.

California apparently makes nearly $1 million a year selling copies of its laws (a digital version goes for over $1500). Will it go after Carl’s blatant flouting of the state’s copyright claim? I’m sure he’s hoping they do.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 at 5:59 pm by Josh King, VP of Business Development and General Counsel and is filed under Josh King Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “If Ignorance of the Law is No Excuse, Why Does the State Charge For It?”

  1. greatness Says:
    October 5th, 2008 at 8:08 pm

    Good point. If ignorance of the law is no excuse then all citizens should have the opportunity to learn what it is for free.

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